Battle Scars
by Dramaticdragon99
Summary: ((Post-reveal!)) AU Where Cat Noir's Cataclysm got a little too close for comfort when he was possessed by Dark Cupid ((Don't worry it ain't too sad, no death nothing like that))


**|| AU where Adrien and Marinette already know the other's identities and are growing closer over time. Also, where Cat Noir's Cataclysm in "Dark Cupid" got a tad bit closer… ||**

Marinette stared at her reflection nervously. On the far right side of her face, just as it turned into her hair, something was wrong. It looked kind of like a burn, but more like one of those scary acid-burns rather than the ones you get from a hot stove. It was the same color as her skin, so she knew confidently that she could cover it with makeup for school, but it still worried her. She had a pretty strong hunch as to wear it came from- well, mostly since there was only _one_ thing that could have caused it.

Cataclysm.

She remember back to the akuma fight from the previous day, when Dark Cupid had pulled Cat Noir under his "hate everything" spell. At the end of the fight, Cat had tried to use Cataclysm, claiming he always wondering what it would be like to use it on someone. Thankfully, he hadn't make a strong enough contact to actually do anything, but Marinette distinctly remembered feeling a slight brush of skin against the right side of her face. She hadn't felt any immediate pain, so she just ignored it and continued the akuma fight. And even when she got home that day, nothing seemed to be out of place. She just brushed it off as him missing the actual Cataclysm and what she felt was just the breeze of his swing.

But as she rechecked herself this morning, she corrected herself. He must have brushed against her, because she never exactly held any hotpots against her face to cause this.

Gently, she patted some foundation on the burn mark, getting closer to the mirror to closely examine it. It did look pretty close to those scary acid burns from the movies, like when someone was thrown in lava or had something corrosive thrown at them. But only a little, of course. As she carefully put on her makeup, she noticed some other marks on it. There was on section, just above where her ear started, that looked worse than the others. That must have been where he actually hit her, and the rest just flowed out from it. Oh well, could be a lot worse.

After putting on the makeup- with a notable amount of pain- she finished getting ready for school and head out. She worried a little over whether or not she should tell Adrien. He wouldn't exactly take it too well, almost successfully using Cataclysm on Ladybug. But would it be worse to just tell him in a controlled way, or let him find out on his own…

Of course it would be better to tell him, but _how_ exactly are you supposed to tell someone that they almost killed you while under an akuma's spell?!

Marinette sighed, walking up the steps to her school and heading to her locker.

After normal, ordinary classes, she and Adrien agreed to have lunch together- not without Alya's grinning, of course. Even though Marinette and Adrien had been growing closer, Marinette still wasn't completely cured around him and Alya was always there to give her either an encouraging smile or teasing laugh.

The duo sat up in Marinette's room, eating their lunches with a plate of cookies waiting to be dessert. And as we all know, eating causes your mouth to move, with causes some of the skin on your face to move. This agitated the injury on her face, causing her to instinctively squeak and hold it gently.

"Are you alright?" Adrien asked, surprised at her sudden action.

"Oh, uh, y-yeah, I'm fine!" Marinette nodded, not really wanting to talk about it just yet.

"Marinette, what _is_ that?" Adrien asked, leaning closer to her face. And if Marinette hadn't been so startled by the sudden closeness, she might have actually made an excuse. He brushed out a piece of her hair and examined her face.

She must not have done as good of a job with the makeup as she thought she had…

"Marinette, are these burns?" He asked, leaning back to look her in the eye.

"Um… Kind of?" She shrugged. What exactly would you _call_ a Cataclysm mark? A burn?

"Kind of?" He echoed, "Marinette what happened?"

"Well… Um… It's a long, long story, I doubt you want to hear it," She waved her hand dismissively, as if it would bore him, trying to convince him not to continue. Which was a wasted effort.

"Marinette, what happened?" He asked again, this time more serious.

She sighed, leaning back in her chair, not answering for a moment.

"It's not like its growing, so it doesn't really matter or anything, it's all over anyway." She shrugged, avoiding eye contact.

"What do you mean?"

"Um… Are you sure you really want to know?" Marinette asked, nervously glancing back up to him.

Adrien nodded solemnly, and Marinette sighed, knowing she had no way out of this.

"Remember yesterday, with Dark Cupid and all?" She began, and continued at his nod, "Well, you already know he hit you with one of the arrows. So, um, he was, like, using you to fight me and all. When he started getting more serious about taking my miraculous, you, um… You….."

She trailed off, really, really not wanting to say it. She knew it would hurt him more than it hurt her to even be hit with it.

"I…?"He nodded, leaning in, worry clear on his face.

"Well, it's all over, so it's not like it matters!" She shook her head quickly.

"Marinette, what did I do?" He questioned, grabbing her shoulder to make her face him, showing her how serious he was. And worried. Very, very worried.

She paused for a moment, saying the words in her head a few times first. You used Cataclysm on me. You tried to use Cataclysm on me. The akuma made you use Cataclysm against me.

None of the options were any better than the rest, so she decided on the most basic option.

"Cataclysm." She said, looking him in the eye, after taking a deep breath.

She saw the gears working in his head, figuring out what she said. He quickly glanced back to the mark on her face, and it all sank in.

Marinette could visibly see the dread set in on his face.

"B-But it's okay! I'm fine, see! No disappearing, here!" She said, trying to make a joking smile, like this was all just par for their typical banter.

"I… I used…. I used Cataclysm on you?" Adrien whispered, his eyes slowly shifting from her burn to her eyes. His eyes were quickly fogging up, and Marinette got even more worried.

"But I'm fine! Please don't be upset, okay!" She shook her hands quickly, pointing to her- albeit worried- smile to prove her 'okay-ness'.

"Don't be… But I…. And I…." Adrien mumbled, his words trailing off to quieter and quieter ends. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes staring at his hands in his lap like they were a knife covered in blood. He seemed to be freezing up, hardly even breathing, and tears starting to wet his eyelids.

"Adrien…" Marinette whispered, reaching forward to hold his shoulder, but he recoiled back, further into his chair. She couldn't think of any more light-hearted jokes to make this any better, and she didn't know what to do.

"I… Marinette, I…." He tried again, looking up but not quite reaching her eyes.

"I promise, I'm not hurt." She said. It was only partially a lie, since it only hurt when she moved it or touched it, after all.

"I'm… I'm so, so sorry…" He whispered, finally reaching her eyes. As if some trigger had been set off, the tears began to flow down instantly, and she couldn't help but feel her eyes welling up at the sight of it.

Marinette didn't say anything, but reached forward again, holding him in a tight hug. After a moment, he hugged back, holding her tighter than he ever had.

"I'm so sorry…" Adrien repeated, letting his tears fall onto her shoulders, holding as if he'd never let go.

"It's alright… Don't worry…" She hummed back quietly, very slowly rubbing his back.

"I'm so… I'm so sorry…"

After what felt like forever, Marinette slowly let go, but still held his shoulders, making sure he'd look up to meet her eyes.

"Don't worry, it'll take more than that to hurt me." She said with a weak smile, knowing her joke sounded muffled in her teary voice, but she didn't know what else to do.

He nodded, a tiny smile growing on his face as well, which sent a wave of relief through Marinette.

"Come on," She whispered, holding his hand in one hand and reaching up to her desk with the other, "You can't enjoy a cookie while crying."

He chuckled wetly, nodding and taking the cookie.

"Thanks…" He took a smile bite, "Sorry… Really…"

"I know," Marinette sighed, gently holding his hand, "I know."


End file.
